Nigerian striker, Odion Ighalo participated in Russia 2018 World Cup and he was roundly blamed for making Argentina send Nigeria packing out of the World Cup. This is a match that will forever be a memorable one in the hearts of the most populous black nation, Nigeria as they were eliminated from the tournament by Argentina.
In case you can't remember this match, let give you a flash back. During group D match, Nigeria played against Argentina and Nigeria needed only a draw to scale through to the round of 16 while Argentina on the other hand needed a win to scale through. Argentina were leading 2-1 till the last quarter of the match until Nigeria saw a clear penalty when Rojo headed the ball before it landed on his arm and then landed in front of Ighalo.
Ighalo was in the best position to give Nigeria an equalizer to scale through but he kicked the ball aimlessly because he actually thought it was a penalty. Although, the match was suspended for a few minutes for a potential penalty but the referee did not award penalty after watching the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). This really broke the heart of many Nigerians and aggrieved fans and football bet addicts blamed Ighalo for such a great miss.
According to Ighalo, "many people stormed my social media after the World Cup and threatened to harm me. They said some words to me and my wife, threatening and all that. That is beyond football"
Well, World Cup has come and gone and now we have African Nations Cup qualifier. Aghalo scored a hat-trick and he heard his name sung from the stands as he was subbed off after 75 minutes. He was then serenaded by supporters in the second game on Tuesday, as he scored twice and provided one assist.
I believe every successful footballer has a bad story like this to tell at a point in time. Looking at Mark Zuckerberg, he almost quit due to lack of fund. Jack Ma also suffered depression and he almost committed suicide.
I wish all those who take things personal take football like entertainment just like movies and music instead of death threats because they probably lost money in a match. I can also remember the case of a player who lost a penalty that could have secured his national team a spot for the World Cup, only for aggrieved fans to go and burn down his house and destroyed his properties. This is beyond football and more of foolishness.
32 teams participated in the world cup and only one team won the trophy. Many good teams were eliminated by the mistake of one two player. It's football and such a thing is inevitable in football.
I drop my pen at this juncture 😎
Thanks for reading
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